Best Salon Software for 2017: Booker vs Shedul vs Square Appointments

Salon software can help you to manage everything from scheduling appointments to in-store and online sales, payroll, email marketing, and more. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to review Booker, Shedul, and Square Appointments. These services covered the range for small businesses in terms of features and price. Read on for our comparison and review of these three options, as well as our top recommendations.

We recommend Booker as the best salon software because it delivers the widest range of features at a competitive price. Booker provides a complete end-to-end solution to managing your salon, from customer acquisition to retention and ongoing administration.

Booker’s Marketing Network is the software’s primary differentiating feature. Salon owners can link the software’s scheduling tool with third-party websites, such as Google, Yelp, Yellow Pages, MapQuest, SpaFinder, and more and display an “Online Booking” widget directly on their profiles.

This targets prospective clients when they’re actively searching for the service and when they’re most likely to book. Neither Shedul nor Square Appointments offer this feature; however, it does come at an additional cost with Booker.

Your clients can schedule appointments at your salon quickly and easily, either by calling you directly or by visiting your website. A customized booking page integrates with your website’s look and feel, seamlessly connecting your clients with your stylist’s calendars. They can then choose the type of service they’d like to receive as well as the date and time to schedule it. This function can even be added to your social media accounts, such as your Facebook page.

With appointments booked, you can use this information to manage your staffing needs. Booker’s scheduling software and payroll management will help you coordinate your stylist’s schedules with their appointments, send shift notifications automatically, and even let you define your compensation structure including reporting on hours worked, service deductions, and tips received. Square supports tips as well and offers a sleek built-in payroll management tool, though at an added cost.

Once your clients are in your salon, Booker acts as your point of sale (POS) software as well. Process transactions, track your client’s purchases over time, process credit card payments, sell gift certificates, manage inventory, or even sell products through your website — Booker’s POS can help you manage it all. Square Appointments also integrates in-salon POS features with ecommerce functionality, but Shedul does not.

Basic customer relationship management (CRM) features also let you track your clients over time, including appointments, total spend, any marketing campaigns they responded to, and generate reports to measure their effectiveness.

Finally, customer loyalty features help you to retain your clients. Send follow-up notifications, fill last-minute openings, send satisfaction surveys, or create memberships with exclusive benefits for individual clients or groups — all from within Booker.

We recommend Shedul as the best low-cost salon software because it offers most of the basic features your salon will require — for free. Shedul is currently in the early stages of their business; they plan to require payment for subscriptions in the near future, but anyone who signs up for the service before then will receive a lifetime membership for free.

Other than the price, there is little to differentiate Shedul from the other services we reviewed. It includes most of the basic functionality that your salon will use in its day-to-day operations, but little extra. But what it does do, it does well and within a simple user interface. This includes:

A dashboard that consolidates your day’s activities, such as appointments, notifications, sales, and other metrics

Schedule appointments in person or online through your website, embedded widgets, or Facebook

Send automated notifications to your clients to remind them of upcoming appointments

Booker and Square Appointments offer all of these features as well, but, again, the primary difference is that Shedul is a free service where Booker is not. Square does have a free appointment booking plan, but just for one user.

One significant omission is the lack of credit card processing. Shedul plans to include this in the future, but for now you will have to partner with a third-party merchant to process payments by credit card. Credit card processing is a built-in feature of both Booker and Square.

However, credit card processing aside, it’s hard to argue against the value of Shedul considering that it’s a free service. It may not be the most feature-rich, but with new features planned to be added in the future, securing a free lifetime account will present significant savings over the long-term to offset any short-term inconveniences.

Square Appointments’ POS and appointment features meet the needs of most salons and is an ideal solution for mobile stylists who need to track appointments and accept payments on-the-go. Square’s credit card payment processing services cover all in-store, mobile, and online sales needs, plus Square give every user a complete POS system for free.

Like Booker and Shedul, Square Appointments delivers a suite of functions that will help you to manage the day-to-day operations of your salon. Online scheduling software, website integration, staff calendars, client email and SMS notifications, and POS software are all included in every plan. This is all free if you’re a solo shop, but multiple staff calendars come with monthly fees. You can also turn on Square’s built-in loyalty and email marketing programs as needed for low monthly fees.

Booker offers an end-to-end solution similar to Square Appointments. Both have the ability to schedule appointments through social media and websites, and offer payroll management and CRM tools. One management feature that Square offers but Booker and Shedul don’t, though, is that it integrates with Quickbooks and Xero to assist with your accounting.

The other additional feature of note is that Square Appointments includes a mobile app for free with all of their plans. With their app, you can view and manage your appointments, process payments, and access client information. Booker also offers a mobile app, but it comes at an additional cost, and Shedul does not offer a mobile app at all.

Square credit card transaction fees are set at 2.75% for free plans, and 2.5% + $0.10 per transaction on paid plans. This rate plan is higher than the $10/month and 0.99% + $0.25 per debit transaction or 1.69% + $0.20 per credit card transaction rates from Booker. However, Square Appointments’ single-user free plan can be less costly when you figure in Booker’s monthly fee. It’s smart to run the numbers to ensure you choose the most cost-effective plan for your business.

In-Depth Review: Booker vs Shedul vs Square Appointments

Ease of Setup/Use

Salon software should be easy to setup and easy to use, freeing you up to focus on delivering exceptional care to your clients. It should make the day-to-day management of your salon easier, saving you both time and money.

On the business side, schedules, customer information, and reporting should be immediately accessible, clearly displayed, and quick to update. And on the customer side, booking an appointment should involve as few clicks as possible to minimize any potential drop-off.

Booker strikes a fair balance between a wide range of features, but remains easy to use without overwhelming the user with options. The user interface could use an update — it looks rather dated — and there are many tabs and sub-tabs to navigate through, but it remains nonetheless intuitive to use.

One of the primary benefits of Booker is that it offers an end-to-end solution; so where some salons may use different software for different purposes, Booker is fully integrated. This significantly reduces your overall learning curve, minimized setup, and ensures that all of your salon’s and clients’ data is centrally located and updated.

Shedul excels by offering you only what you need with no superfluous features that complicate the software’s user interface. As the newest of the three services, Shedul is also the most aesthetically pleasing and visually similar to other leading SaaS products.

Users will find it easy to navigate with a familiar interface, including clear navigation, drag-and-drop functionality, and efficient search and filter tools. Without an excess of features, the user experience is greatly simplified.

Square Appointments features a clean and modern interface with clear graphics and a simple layout. For salon owners who may not have much exposure to other SaaS products, Square’s design will minimize any feelings of intimidation despite the power behind it.

After signing up, Square Appointments prompts you to enter some basic information about your salon, such as its name, the services you offer, the time each service requires, what each service costs, and your staff. Once complete, another series of brief pop-ups will guide you through any final setup steps that Square recommends.

Square was initially conceived as a mobile payment processing system and this functionality still serves as the backbone of their service offerings. Their appointments product is an add-on to their payment processing — as such, it’s not salon-specific, but the integration with the payment processing is seamless and performs very well on mobile devices.

One other benefit of Square Appointments is its appointment booking feature is free for one user and paid plans have a 30-day free trial. No matter how easy we may find a piece of software to use, it’s how you use it that matters most, and you can try Square Appointments risk-free. Similarly, Shedul is free to use, so you can try it risk-free as well. Booker does not offer a free trial of any kind, so there is some inherent risk in committing to a subscription.

Features

All of the salon software that we reviewed shared a common set of basic features that would help a salon owner manage the day-to-day operations of their business. These include:

All three of the services we reviewed offer your salon’s clients the ability to book an appointment online through your website, but the Booker Marketing Network takes this one step further. It links the software’s scheduling tool with third-party websites, such as Google, Yelp, Yellow Pages, MapQuest, and SpaFinder and more and adds an “Online Booking” link that connects the websites to your schedule. This is potentially a very valuable feature for your salon as it helps to convert prospective clients early in their buying cycle. If a potential client is looking at your Yelp review, for example, and comparing it to other salons then they’re most open to suggestion at that moment. Neither Square Appointments nor Shedul offer a similar feature.

Booker’s scheduling and payroll management tools help you take the guesswork out of staffing. Based on appointments booked, you can schedule your staff as needed, send shift notifications, and structure your compensation structure (by junior or senior stylists, for example) including hours worked, any service deductions, and allocate tips that your staff receives. Square offers payroll management tools as well for an added monthly fee.

Finally, basic CRM tools help you to retain your clients. Track their appointments and purchases over time, deploy marketing emails and know how well they were responded to, send satisfaction surveys, even fill last-minute openings by notifying clients who may be due for a service based on their past frequency.

Shedul: While Shedul does deliver all of the basic functions that we described above, it doesn’t offer any additional features that Booker or Square do not. What it does do, it does well; however, other than its modern interface, there is little to differentiate it from the other software we reviewed.

The one exception, of course, is the price. Shedul is currently free for all users. They do play to require paid subscriptions in the near future, but any salon that signs up to use their software before the paid subscriptions may continue with their free subscription indefinitely. For smaller salons on a tight budget, this is a huge positive and one that we will consider to be a feature of the software.

Square Appointments: In a nod to its conception as a mobile payment processor, Square is the only software we reviewed to include a mobile app with all of their packages. Booker offers one as well, but only at an additional cost. Shedul does not offer one at all. Within the mobile app, salon owners can accept appointments, process payments through Square’s POS, access customer information, and more.

Square is also the only software we reviewed that integrates with Quickbooks and Xero, which will make the administration and accounting tasks for your salon easier to manage.

Finally, another unique feature that Square Appointments offers, but doesn’t seem to advertise, is their Fake-It Filter. When used, it randomly removes a percentage of your available appointment times to create the appearance that your salon is busier than it actually is. This may not be the most honest feature, but we appreciated it nonetheless.

Customer Support

In addition to being easy to use, salon software should also offer comprehensive customer support options. As with any small business, the easier customer support is to access when it’s needed, the more time salon owners will have to focus on their clients.

Booker: In addition to an online knowledge base, Booker also offers phone, email, and online chat support from 9am-10pm EST, Monday to Friday, and 10am-7pm EST, Saturday and Sunday.

Booker is the only software we reviewed to offer access to customer support on the weekend when salons are most likely to be at their busiest.

Shedul: Given that Shedul is currently free to use, it’s no surprise that their customer support options are limited. They do offer a comprehensive knowledge base as well as email support, but the hours that their email support is offered are not specified and there is no guaranteed response time. That said, user reviews on third-party websites have been very favorable and few, if any, complaints have been made about their customer support.

Square Appointments: In addition to an online knowledge base, Square also offers phone, email, and online chat support from 6am-6pm PST, Monday to Friday.

Other Salon Software Options

There are many other salon software options on the market that may be a better fit for your business’ needs. Here are some of the others that we liked and what makes them unique:

The Bottom Line

Booker’s wide range of features, which will help your salon acquire, manage, service, and retain clients make it the most complete end-to-end solution that we reviewed. This, as well as its competitive price, make it our recommendation for the best salon software for 2017.

About the Author

Gavin Graham

Gavin is an editor at Fit Small Business, focusing on a variety of small business topics. Gavin has been at the intersection of content management and creation in the digital marketing world for over ten years. As a project and production manager, he led cross-functional teams and owned client relationships in the automotive, fashion, hospitality, and media industries. While working at various entrepreneurial startups, he created content for clients, rethinking their web presence and developing strategies to reposition their brands online. When he’s not writing, Gavin is a marathon runner, proud parent of an Australian Shepherd, and craft beer geek. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

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Comments (31)Disclaimer: Reviews on FitSmallBusiness.com are the product of independent research by our writers, researchers, and editorial team. User reviews and comments are contributions from independent users not affiliated with FitSmallBusiness.com's editorial team. Banks, issuers, credit card companies, and other product & service providers are not responsible for any content posted on FitSmallBusiness.com. As such, they do not endorse or guarantee any posted comments or reviews.Post Your Comment

Hi I just wanted to add a little extra something concerning Square. (I am a separate business within A bigger spa business- Medical Aesthetic Nurses) As the smaller counter part I use Square while the Larger biz uses Booker- Square offers business capital based on the amount of business you do with them- there is a fee and maybe compared to some others could be pricey- However is a game changer of ease to access and is “Non credit checking” freeing a small business from overloading with dings on Equfax,Experian and Transunion. The Loan amount will vary depending on your volume and will deduct there fee from each sale making paying back quicker. I’ve used it to help my business in slower months and it’s been a great tool.

You’re absolutely right! Square Capital bases its short-term loan credit decisions on the average volume of credit card sales that your business processes. Plus the built-in payback is flexible since it’s a percentage of your daily sales, not a set amount. So if you have a slow month, you’re never in danger of not being able to pay that month’s balance due, like traditional loans that have flat-amount payback plans. Good point, thanks for mentioning that.

I am surprised to see no Baxus (https://www.baxus.com) or Timely (https://www.gettimely.com)in the lineup. Both great products. Baxus is the user-friendly one with great support. Timely does similar things! I just wanted to add that!

I am little confused by the comments under this article. It says it was posted June 14, 2017, but some of the comments are more a year and a half old. Can someone explain this to me? Our salon is currently interested in other options for software. I have been looking into Mindbody, but want to make sure we are making the right move. Booker sounds interesting, but I am not sure if it can do all that we need it to. This article is helpful, but now I’m not sure if it is the truth or the date has been changed/modified since the comments don’t make sense. Any helpful insight would be awesome.

I can see how the dates might be confusing. We regularly update our buyer’s guides to keep them current but keep the comments from previous versions because they help add to the discussion. The date listed at the top of every article is the date of the most current update, not necessarily the date the article was first posted.

Hello, is there any information on the way they protect the credit card information that is collected on the booking websites? The article is a few years old, and there is no information on security measures for confidential information clients are putting on these websites to book appointments

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